The official definition for real estate development, or property development, is ‘a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others.’

Sounds complicated doesn’t it, but to Jonathan Pollen, property development as I like to call it is simply buying a piece of land or property that is currently down valued due to its location or condition, and then improving its current condition to sell on for a profit.

Buying properties, renovating them and then selling them on is my preferred option.
You see the repayment of what you put in much quicker and can then move onto your next project.

However, the building, renovation and sales process related to sales can be very time consuming and things rarely go your way. Not only must you understand the property market inside out but you must also either have a builder you can trust and rely on or know how to manage a project yourself from top to bottom.

When it comes to sales people starting out in property development can become too involved in the image and presentation of the property. Sure its important that what ever you are renovating looks presentable and appealing to the buyer.
But Jonathan Pollen always have one rule that I try to stick to which is, would I be happy living in this property.

Jonathan Pollen can live in basic accommodation just as easily as living in a five star hotel, but as long as the basics are of an acceptable standard and pass all the necessary rules, regulations and checks then there is no need to blow your budget on expensive appliances or added features that you don’t need.

Jonathan Pollen tries to stick to areas that I know and are familiar with that way you will have better knowledge of the current market and what’s going on.

You will also have better relationships with estate agencies and builders who you will start to be able to rely on to deliver, and hopefully use again and again.

Keeping within your chosen areas most appealing price bracket is also important. So if a two bedroom house is typically selling in the region of £300,00 – £380,000 try to model your budgeting in the middle, and then you can build out your budget for all your costs from there, and at least you know you are aiming at the largest part of the market where there are the most buyers. Once you have renovated a few properties in this segment of the market you will start to develop a good understanding of what buyers in that price bracketing like and don’t like, and how to position certain features in the property, and also keep aside money for critical things that you know you’ll need to add later on in the project.

Even though it’s important to try and complete each project as quickly as you can, and especially if you are starting out I would seriously advise you not to take on too many properties at once.

Things never go to plan and there are always problems which leads to delays. Even though this can be frustrating it’s also to be expected and having lots or multiple projects all running at once, where you are relying so much on all of them selling will just put to much pressure on you.

Jonathan Pollen started to focus on one property at a time for at least the first two years and he made sure to understand the whole process properly before scaling up.

Pollen also used to ask friends or colleagues who knew had worked in the property development market for a long time and had lots of experience for advice.

They would always give me their option on something, such as a house or flat that Jonathan was looking to renovate and what the best sort of layout might be.

Jonathan remembered one bit of advice from a friend who recommended a shop and upper to me which at the time was really helpful because otherwise I would not have paid any notice to the property, and still now it is one of the twenty buy to let properties I have in my portfolio today, and would never sell.